民主正义论:从中国出发的世界性民主话语重构

Democracy as Justice:Reconstructing Cosmopolitan Democratic Discourse Starting from China

国际话语体系建构面临融通本土性与全球性、特殊性与普遍性的难题,从中国出发重构“世界性”民主话语是突破这一困境的可行路径。“民主正义”通过嵌入“正义”之公正良善的实质价值重构民主认知,成为世界性民主话语的核心概念之一。民主正义论的建构需要遵循四个步骤。首先,确立世界性民主话语的内涵。其次,对“民主正义”给予规范性论证,强化民主正义论的价值理性、客观伦理和实践建构的理论特质。再次,阐释民主正义的建构原则,包括平等参与、保存生命和需要。最后,根据其伦理论证和建构原则明确民主正义的具体范畴:责任民主、治理民主和发展民主。民主正义论是从中国的民主具体实践场域和运行成效中生成的新概念和新范畴,可以全面彰显中国民主对于人类政治文明发展的意义。

The original construction of a cosmopolitan discourse system in China had to face the problem.of reconciling its own nativity with worldliness,and its own particularity with universality.China's recent efforts to reconstruct this cosmopolitan democratic discourse opens a feasible path to overcome these dilemmas.The notion of"democracy as justice"reconstructs democracy by embedding in it the substantive value of fairness and goodness in terms of"justice",and based on the democratic practices in China,it aims to build an innovative universal democratic discourse.Reconstructing the theory of democracy as justice should follow four steps.First,it should clearly determine the connotations of cosmopolitan democratic discourse,which include human-based,universal,commensurable,and good pursuit of moral projects.These characteristics hold the potential for universal understanding and acceptance across diverse cultural groups worldwide,thereby furnishing compelling support for this cosmopolitan democratic discourse.I tI should also clarify the"desirability"of China's democratic model within the framework of cosmopolitan discourse,which means that democracy in China encapsulates common goodness,people's democracy,electoral democracy,and deliberative democracy that are pursued by mankind.Second,it should provide a normative justification for"democracy as justice".There are three defective understandings of"democracy as justice"in political philosophy theory:juxtaposition,modification,and isomorphism."Democracy as justice"can only establish ethical principles able to achieve substantive democratic justice through analysis within the dual domains of value rationality and norm construction.Democracy as justice,rooted in value rationality,does not take‘interests'and‘rights'as the highest purpose,but rather understands the development of political morality and community as the chief value pursuit.The normative justification of this theory includes three aspects:establishing democratic norms,setting democratic principles,and connecting facts with values through democratic practices.This line of argumentation provides a robust foundation for deducing the principles of justice within democratic frameworks that can prevent the concept of"democracy as justice"from falling into the discourse trap of Western democratic instrumentalism due to its lack of a priori ethical argumentation and practical subjectivity construction.Third,based on theoretical argumentation and the democratic practices in China,it interprets the constructive principles of democracy as justice,including the principle of equal participation,the principle of preserving life,and the principle of need.Fourth,according to ethical argumentation and the constructive principles of democracy as justice,it establishes specific categories of democracy as justice:responsibility democracy,governance democracy,and development democracy.Moreover,it delineates how China's democratic institutions exemplify these categories through their structural configurations,underlying principles,and operational efficacy.This empirical evidence that serves to validate the concept of democracy as justice is not merely a theoretical abstraction but a global discourse deeply rooted in the praxis of China's democratic governance.